Google Workspace Updates: May 2023

What’s changing

In 2022, we introduced in-line threading for Google Chat and since March 2023, all newly created spaces in Google Chat are in-line threaded by default.

As we continue to move toward a single, streamlined flow of conversation in Google Chat, all existing spaces organized by conversation topic will be upgraded to the in-line threaded experience. This upgrade will start in September 2023, and is expected to be completed by the end of Q1 2024. In the meantime, existing legacy threaded spaces will continue to function as is until the upgrade is complete.

Space organized by conversation topic

In-line threaded spaces

Ahead of the upgrade, Google Workspace admins, partners, and resellers will receive an email with more information about what to expect before the upgrade.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it’s important

Google Chat continues to evolve to meet the needs of our users with new and agile features. In order to provide a consistent user experience and reduce complexity, all Google Chat spaces will use the in-line threading by the end of Q1 2024.

In-line threading allows users to reply to any message and create a discussion separate from the main conversation. Users can also follow specific threads, whereby they’ll receive notifications for replies and @ mentions in that thread, helping to cut through clutter and stay on top of what matters most. Additionally, users will be able to take advantage of other upcoming helpful features such as quoting messages, message linking, and more.

Additional details

Messages sent before the upgrade will be retained, and will be arranged chronologically, instead of by topic. There will also be a separator titled “Begin New Topic” to indicate every time a new topic was started.

In some cases, when people have responded on older topics, the new chronological order takes precedence. This means that messages may not appear next to the original topic, but rather according to their timestamp. When this occurs, the new response will quote the last corresponding message that it is replying to, as seen in the second image below.

You’ll also see a separator between the last message sent before the migration, and a message indicating that the space has been upgraded to a space with in-line replies. Going forward, all new messages will feature in-line threaded functionality — more information on the post-migration experience will be shared via email to admins, partners, and resellers.

Before the upgrade: conversations grouped by topic

After the space has been upgraded to in-line threading, messages sent before the upgrade will be arranged chronologically, instead of by topic.

Getting started

Admins:

Visit the Help Center to learn more about when to use & organize a space.
Note: In the coming weeks, an email will be sent to admins, partners, and resellers with more information regarding the migration and its timeline.

End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using spaces, how to organize a space, and managing a space with in-line threading.

You’ll see a banner in all the spaces that will be impacted by the migration as FYI before the actual migration.

Availability

This update impacts all Google Workspace customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Optimize Spaces for your organization
Google Help: Use Spaces in Google Workspace
Google Help: Learn when to use & organize a space
Google Help: Learn how to manage a space with in-line threading
Cloud Blog: Introducing innovations in Google Workspace to help your organization thrive in hybrid work
Workspace Updates Blog: Hold separate conversations in Google Chat spaces with in-line threading

[Update] August 10, 2023: We've made some adjustments to the timeline of this upgrade — see below for more information.

What’s changingIn 2022, we introduced in-line threading for Google Chat and since March 2023, all newly created spaces in Google Chat are in-line threaded by default.

As we continue to move toward a single, streamlined flow of conversation in Google Chat, all existing spaces organized by conversation topic will be upgraded to the in-line threaded experience. This upgrade will start in September 2023, and is expected to be completed by the end of Q1 2024. In the meantime, existing legacy threaded spaces will continue to function as is until the upgrade is complete.

Space organized by conversation topic

In-line threaded spaces

Ahead of the upgrade, Google Workspace admins, partners, and resellers will receive an email with more information about what to expect before the upgrade.

Who’s impacted Admins and end users

Why it’s important Google Chat continues to evolve to meet the needs of our users with new and agile features. In order to provide a consistent user experience and reduce complexity, all Google Chat spaces will use the in-line threading by the end of Q1 2024.

In-line threading allows users to reply to any message and create a discussion separate from the main conversation. Users can also follow specific threads, whereby they’ll receive notifications for replies and @ mentions in that thread, helping to cut through clutter and stay on top of what matters most. Additionally, users will be able to take advantage of other upcoming helpful features such as quoting messages, message linking, and more.

Additional details Messages sent before the upgrade will be retained, and will be arranged chronologically, instead of by topic. There will also be a separator titled “Begin New Topic” to indicate every time a new topic was started.

In some cases, when people have responded on older topics, the new chronological order takes precedence. This means that messages may not appear next to the original topic, but rather according to their timestamp. When this occurs, the new response will quote the last corresponding message that it is replying to, as seen in the second image below.

You’ll also see a separator between the last message sent before the migration, and a message indicating that the space has been upgraded to a space with in-line replies. Going forward, all new messages will feature in-line threaded functionality — more information on the post-migration experience will be shared via email to admins, partners, and resellers.

Before the upgrade: conversations grouped by topic

After the space has been upgraded to in-line threading, messages sent before the upgrade will be arranged chronologically, instead of by topic.

Getting started

Admins:

End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using spaces, how to organize a space, and managing a space with in-line threading.

You’ll see a banner in all the spaces that will be impacted by the migration as FYI before the actual migration.

Availability

This update impacts all Google Workspace customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Optimize Spaces for your organization
Google Help: Use Spaces in Google Workspace
Google Help: Learn when to use & organize a space
Google Help: Learn how to manage a space with in-line threading
Cloud Blog: Introducing innovations in Google Workspace to help your organization thrive in hybrid work
Workspace Updates Blog: Hold separate conversations in Google Chat spaces with in-line threading

Improving consistency of Gmail data across the Security Investigation Tool and BigQuery

Friday, May 26, 2023

To further improve this experience, you’ll see all Gmail log events from the Security Investigation Tool (SIT) in your Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery. This includes device types and post-delivery actions (for example open, delete, clicked links, and attachment downloads). This change will give admins a more complete picture of Gmail activity happening in their domain, and bring consistency across reporting tools.

Use the table below to familiarize yourself with the newly added columns — complete details can be found in our Help Center.

List of newly added columns	Description
event_info.mail_event_type	The event type corresponds to the Event attribute in Gmail log events in Security Investigation Tool.
event_info.client_context.client_type	The type of client or device where the action occurred, including: WEB, IOS, ANDROID, IMAP, POP3, and API.
event_info.client_context.session_context.delegate_user_email	Email address of the delegated user who performed the action on the account owner's behalf.
message_info.attachment.file_name	File attachment name.
message_info.post_delivery_info	Information about the post-delivery event.
message_info.post_delivery_info.action_type	Post-delivery action type.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction	Information about the user's interaction with message links, Drive items, or attachments.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.link_url	The URL associated with the interaction, which is set only for link click interactions.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.drive_id	The unique ID of the Google Drive item associated with the interaction. This ID is used to access the item in Drive.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.attachment	The target attachments of the interaction, which are set only for attachment interactions.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.attachment.file_extension_type	File extension (not MIME part type), not including the period.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.attachment.malware_family	Malware type, if malware is detected during message handling.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.attachment.file_name	Attachment file name.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.attachment.sha256	SHA256 hash of the attachment.

Getting started

Admins:

Visit the Help Center to learn more about Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery, schemas for Gmail logs in BigQuery and Gmail log events.
This update adheres to the standard BigQuery pricing — see here for more information.

End users: There is no end user impact.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Education Standard
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery

What’s changing In August 2022, we announced the movement of the existing Gmail logs in BigQuery to Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery, creating a single space to access all of your Google Workspace audit events.

To further improve this experience, you’ll see all Gmail log events from the Security Investigation Tool (SIT) in your Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery. This includes device types and post-delivery actions (for example open, delete, clicked links, and attachment downloads). This change will give admins a more complete picture of Gmail activity happening in their domain, and bring consistency across reporting tools.

Use the table below to familiarize yourself with the newly added columns — complete details can be found in our Help Center.

List of newly added columns	Description
event_info.mail_event_type	The event type corresponds to the Event attribute in Gmail log events in Security Investigation Tool.
event_info.client_context.client_type	The type of client or device where the action occurred, including: WEB, IOS, ANDROID, IMAP, POP3, and API.
event_info.client_context.session_context.delegate_user_email	Email address of the delegated user who performed the action on the account owner's behalf.
message_info.attachment.file_name	File attachment name.
message_info.post_delivery_info	Information about the post-delivery event.
message_info.post_delivery_info.action_type	Post-delivery action type.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction	Information about the user's interaction with message links, Drive items, or attachments.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.link_url	The URL associated with the interaction, which is set only for link click interactions.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.drive_id	The unique ID of the Google Drive item associated with the interaction. This ID is used to access the item in Drive.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.attachment	The target attachments of the interaction, which are set only for attachment interactions.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.attachment.file_extension_type	File extension (not MIME part type), not including the period.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.attachment.malware_family	Malware type, if malware is detected during message handling.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.attachment.file_name	Attachment file name.
message_info.post_delivery_info.interaction.attachment.sha256	SHA256 hash of the attachment.

Getting started

Admins:

Visit the Help Center to learn more about Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery, schemas for Gmail logs in BigQuery and Gmail log events.
This update adheres to the standard BigQuery pricing — see here for more information.

End users: There is no end user impact.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Education Standard
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery

Enable your users to report inappropriate messages for review

Thursday, May 25, 2023

For select Google Workspace customers, admins can enable content reporting for their Google Chat users. Once a user has flagged a message, admins can find more information about the incident in the Security Investigation Tool and decide whether further action is needed. This feature is available for Google Chat on the web and mobile devices.

Admins can turn content reporting on for 1:1 messages, group messages, or messages in spaces, and select which reporting categories are available for their users, such as harassment or rude behavior, sensitive information, and more. Admins can also customize the language in the reporting dialog box to educate users about next steps following the report submission.

When you turn content reporting on, you can select which reporting categories to show to your users and which conversation types content reporting is available for.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it’s important

Effective collaboration in the modern workplace requires a sense of psychological safety for users and appropriate protections for sensitive business data. Content reporting in Google Chat enables users the opportunity to report inappropriate messages for review. This can include anything from offensive , discriminatory or explicit content, sensitive data that should not be shared (personal or proprietary), and more. This is critical for our customers, especially those of larger organizations and in regulated industries, to stay on top of potential abuse and inappropriate use of Chat in their organization.

Further, admins can use the Security Investigation Tool to decide whether data protection rules need to be created to proactively prevent similar messages from being shared in the future.

In the Security Investigation Tool, you can search for reported messages, view additional conversation information, and see the chat transcript for more context.

Along with recent updates such as managing Google Chat spaces in the admin console, we hope this feature helps admins manage Chat across their organization.

Getting started

Admins: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the domain or OU level. Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing content reporting in Chat, investigating Chat messages with the Security Investigation Tool, and preventing data leaks from Chat.
End users: This feature must be enabled by your admin. Visit the Help Center to learn more about reporting messages in Google Chat.

Reporting a message on the web

Reporting a message on a mobile device

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 25, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers

Resources

What’s changing (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); For select Google Workspace customers, admins can enable content reporting for their Google Chat users. Once a user has flagged a message, admins can find more information about the incident in the Security Investigation Tool and decide whether further action is needed. This feature is available for Google Chat on the web and mobile devices.Admins can turn content reporting on for 1:1 messages, group messages, or messages in spaces, and select which reporting categories are available for their users, such as harassment or rude behavior, sensitive information, and more. Admins can also customize the language in the reporting dialog box to educate users about next steps following the report submission.

When you turn content reporting on, you can select which reporting categories to show to your users and which conversation types content reporting is available for.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it’s important

Further, admins can use the Security Investigation Tool to decide whether data protection rules need to be created to proactively prevent similar messages from being shared in the future.

In the Security Investigation Tool, you can search for reported messages, view additional conversation information, and see the chat transcript for more context.

Along with recent updates such as managing Google Chat spaces in the admin console, we hope this feature helps admins manage Chat across their organization.

Getting started

Admins: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the domain or OU level. Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing content reporting in Chat, investigating Chat messages with the Security Investigation Tool, and preventing data leaks from Chat.
End users: This feature must be enabled by your admin. Visit the Help Center to learn more about reporting messages in Google Chat.

Reporting a message on the web

Reporting a message on a mobile device

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 25, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers

Resources

Set expirations for files in shared drives using Google Drive API

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Specifically, developers will now be able to fully control file expirations via the API (creating, reading, updating, deleting), and users will be able to see, but not edit file expirations in the sharing dialog.

Set expirations for files in shared drives using Google Drive API

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
Developers: Visit the Help Center to learn more about setting an expiration date for file access.
End users: This feature will be ON by default and cannot be disabled. If an expiring access has been set by a developer in your domain, you will automatically see it in the sharing dialog.

Rollout pace

This feature is available now.

Availability

Available to Google Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Education Plus customers
Not available to Essentials Starter, Business Starter, Frontline Starter, Frontline Standard, and Nonprofits
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Help: Set an expiration date for file access

What’s changingLast year, we announced the ability to set expiring access when sharing files in My Drive. To expand upon this, we’re adding the option to set expirations on files that reside in shared drives using the Google Drive API.
Specifically, developers will now be able to fully control file expirations via the API (creating, reading, updating, deleting), and users will be able to see, but not edit file expirations in the sharing dialog.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
Developers: Visit the Help Center to learn more about setting an expiration date for file access.
End users: This feature will be ON by default and cannot be disabled. If an expiring access has been set by a developer in your domain, you will automatically see it in the sharing dialog.

Rollout pace

This feature is available now.

Availability

Available to Google Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Education Plus customers
Not available to Essentials Starter, Business Starter, Frontline Starter, Frontline Standard, and Nonprofits
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Help: Set an expiration date for file access

Adding new capabilities to timeline view in Google Sheets

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Today, we’re adding the following capabilities to expand the timeline view feature:

Enhanced formatting options, including card text truncation and the undo/redo option
A card collapsed view that enables you to merge cards into a single row for each card group
Print and download support

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: To create a timeline, navigate to Insert > timeline > select a data range > configure the attributes in the timeline settings sidebar. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Timeline View.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 24, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 7, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers
Not available to Nonprofits, Frontline Starter, and Frontline Standard customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

What’s changingLast year, we introduced an interactive timeline view that allows you to track projects in Google Sheets. The timeline view enables you to easily interact with project information and can help you manage things like marketing campaigns, project milestones, schedules, cross-team collaboration, and more.
Today, we’re adding the following capabilities to expand the timeline view feature:

Enhanced formatting options, including card text truncation and the undo/redo option
A card collapsed view that enables you to merge cards into a single row for each card group
Print and download support

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: To create a timeline, navigate to Insert > timeline > select a data range > configure the attributes in the timeline settings sidebar. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Timeline View.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 24, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 7, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers
Not available to Nonprofits, Frontline Starter, and Frontline Standard customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Extending client-side encryption to chat messages in Google Meet

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Meet already encrypts all of your data at rest and in transit between our facilities — client-side encryption gives users direct control of their encryption keys and the identity service that they choose to authenticate for those keys. For more information, see our original announcement.

Getting started

Admins: Learn more about configuring Client-side encryption.
End users: See our original announcement and our Help Center for more information about client-side encryption for Meet.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 24, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 26, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers hosting client-side encrypted calls
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, The Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

What’s changing If you’re using client-side encryption for Meet, in-meeting chat will now be supported. As with the audio and video content of your client-side encrypted meetings, all in-meeting chat messages will be encrypted and inaccessible by any third party, including Google.
Meet already encrypts all of your data at rest and in transit between our facilities — client-side encryption gives users direct control of their encryption keys and the identity service that they choose to authenticate for those keys. For more information, see our original announcement.

Getting started

Admins: Learn more about configuring Client-side encryption.
End users: See our original announcement and our Help Center for more information about client-side encryption for Meet.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 24, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 26, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers hosting client-side encrypted calls
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, The Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Simplify workflows in Google Docs with variable chips

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Simply pre-define and insert placeholders such as a client name, contract number, or an address, and then update it throughout an entire document by editing the value in one place. Using variables as dynamic placeholders makes template creation more straightforward, whether that is through custom building blocks or using the document as a template.

Simplify workflows in Google Docs with variable chips

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about inserting and using variable chips.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 23, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 5, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials Starter, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline Starter, and Frontline Standard
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

What’s changingEarlier this year, we shared innovations in smart canvas that help you simplify workflows and complete common tasks with easy-to-use prompts in Google Docs. Today, we’re introducing variable chips, a new feature that makes document creation for things like invoices, contracts, or broader communications much easier.
Simply pre-define and insert placeholders such as a client name, contract number, or an address, and then update it throughout an entire document by editing the value in one place. Using variables as dynamic placeholders makes template creation more straightforward, whether that is through custom building blocks or using the document as a template.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about inserting and using variable chips.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 23, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 5, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials Starter, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline Starter, and Frontline Standard
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - May 19, 2023

Friday, May 19, 2023

Improve time management and display time with new chips in Google Docs

In addition to the recent introduction of new smart canvas features in Google Sheets and Google Docs, we’re adding new timer chips that can be used to timebox activities and ensure that you’re using your time productively.

To more finely represent time, we’re also adding a time-of-day chip to Google Docs. By typing “@today" you can add the date and then select "Set time" to add the time to the date chip.

Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for May 31, 2023. | Learn more about inserting smart chips & building blocks in your Google Doc.

Use alternative text for visual content on Google Sites

Google Sites editors are now able to add or edit alt text on inserted images and add or edit alt text on background images, making their Sites more readable by everyone. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for May 30, 2023. | Learn more about making your site more accessible.

Enhancing our web onboarding experience in Google Chat to help users get started quicker

To build upon recent Google Chat improvements and help organizations use Chat more efficiently, we’re revamping the web onboarding experience for those new to Chat. When using Chat in Gmail or visiting chat.google.com for the first time, you will see options to start a chat, join a space, or browse apps. If you select the first option to send a direct message to a colleague or group, the simpler chat creation options will appear. Choosing to join a space will display a new browsing experience, and the Chat apps option will show you how apps work and the ways to find and add apps. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for June 5th 2023.

New web onboarding experience in Google Chat

Spellcheck for client-side encrypted files in Google Slides

If you’re working in a client-side encrypted file in Google Slides, you’ll now see spelling suggestions as you type. You can see suggestions for misspelled words (indicated by a red wavy underline) by accessing the menu (Tools > Spelling > Spell check) or right- or left-clicking on the word. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers only. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for May 30, 2023. | Learn more about encrypted files in Drive, Docs, Sheets & Slides.

Export client-side encrypted spreadsheets to Excel files

Google Sheets files that are client-side encrypted can now be exported as an Excel file. This means you'll continue to protect your files with encryption, but convert your files as needed. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about encrypted files in Drive, Docs, Sheets & Slides.

AppSheet-powered no-code apps in Google Chat

This announcement was made at Google I/O ‘23. Visit the Workspace Blog to learn more about building workflows across Google Workspace to connect user experiences across apps. You can now create Google Chat apps without code in AppSheet to build integrations or workflows that suit the needs of your organization. | Available now to all Google Workspace customers with an AppSheet Starter, Core, or Enterprise plan. | Learn more about Chat apps.

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

Improving Calendar Interoperability

Recent improvements to Calendar Interoperability include: Microsoft Outlook users who also have a Google Calendar with the same email address can receive Google Calendar invitations and RSVPs in Outlook, a default meeting reminder will be generated in Microsoft Outlook if the invitation was created in Google Calendar to help make sure guests using Outlook do not miss events, and non-Google Calendar recurring events will be more systematically and accurately updated in Google Calendar. | Learn more about Calendar Interoperability improvements.

New membership limits for Google Groups

We've increased the limits for the number of direct and indirect group memberships for which a user can have: Direct: 3,000 memberships (increasing from 2,000) and Combined direct and indirect: 7,500 memberships (increasing from 5,000). | Learn more about new membership limits for Google Groups.

Easily expand and collapse content in Google Docs

We introduced a new feature that helps you minimize and expand sections within Google Docs. This collapsible headings function makes it easier to consume content by enabling you to hide portions of larger documents more easily. | Learn more about expand/collapse in Google Docs.

Create custom building blocks in Google Docs

This feature enables you to save custom blocks of text, tables, and chips to build reusable components. For example, you might create a project kickoff template to track milestones and tasks, a product launch checklist, or even a block of code or text that’s commonly used within your organization. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits only. | Learn more about custom building blocks in Docs.

React to messages quickly in Google Chat

We've added quick reactions in Chat, which displays your most frequently used emojis upon hovering over a message. You'll also see options to open the full emoji picker, reply in a thread, quote in reply and more. | Learn more about quick reactions in Google Chat.

Monitor abuse related events in the Alert Center

Admins will now receive alerts related to abuse related events in their organization. This includes events related to content that has been marked abusive or user access restrictions to apps. | Learn more about monitoring abuse related events in the Alert Center.

Complete data-driven tasks faster with new smart chip data extraction in Google Sheets

You will now be able to quickly extract information from smart chips for advanced sorting, filtering and analysis to drive your projects forward. | Learn more about smart chip data extraction in Google Sheets.

Collaborate with others on Google Calendar invites in Google Docs

We've introduced a building block that lets you collaborate with others to draft calendar invites. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits only. | Learn more about drafting calendar events from Google Docs.

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.

Rapid Release Domains:

Find files quicker with search chips in Google Drive

Introducing additional smart chip functionality in Google Sheets

Scheduled Release Domains:

Enabling organizational communication with announcements in Google Chat (Web)

Replace images quicker in Google Slides with new drag and drop feature

Add emoji reactions to existing comments in Google Docs

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

Communicate better with a modernized Google Chat

Attach a document, spreadsheet, or presentation to a Google Calendar event directly from Meet in Docs, Sheets, and Slides

Manage all Spaces in your organization through the Admin console

Improving Calendar Interoperability

New membership limits for Google Groups

Monitor abuse related events in the Alert Center

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

6 New updatesUnless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace customers.

Improve time management and display time with new chips in Google Docs

To more finely represent time, we’re also adding a time-of-day chip to Google Docs. By typing “@today" you can add the date and then select "Set time" to add the time to the date chip.

Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for May 31, 2023. | Learn more about inserting smart chips & building blocks in your Google Doc.

Use alternative text for visual content on Google Sites

Enhancing our web onboarding experience in Google Chat to help users get started quicker

Spellcheck for client-side encrypted files in Google Slides

Export client-side encrypted spreadsheets to Excel files

AppSheet-powered no-code apps in Google Chat

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

Improving Calendar Interoperability

New membership limits for Google Groups

Easily expand and collapse content in Google Docs

Create custom building blocks in Google Docs

React to messages quickly in Google Chat

Monitor abuse related events in the Alert Center

Complete data-driven tasks faster with new smart chip data extraction in Google Sheets

Collaborate with others on Google Calendar invites in Google Docs

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.

Rapid Release Domains:

Find files quicker with search chips in Google Drive

Introducing additional smart chip functionality in Google Sheets

Scheduled Release Domains:

Enabling organizational communication with announcements in Google Chat (Web)

Replace images quicker in Google Slides with new drag and drop feature

Add emoji reactions to existing comments in Google Docs

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

Communicate better with a modernized Google Chat

Attach a document, spreadsheet, or presentation to a Google Calendar event directly from Meet in Docs, Sheets, and Slides

Manage all Spaces in your organization through the Admin console

Improving Calendar Interoperability

New membership limits for Google Groups

Monitor abuse related events in the Alert Center

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Useful Links

Join the official community for Google Workspace administrators

In the Google Cloud Community, connect with Googlers and other Google Workspace admins like yourself. Participate in product discussions, check out the Community Articles, and learn tips and tricks that will make your work and life easier. Be the first to know what's happening with Google Workspace.

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Learn about more Google Workspace launches

On the “What’s new in Google Workspace?” Help Center page, learn about new products and features launching in Google Workspace, including smaller changes that haven’t been announced on the Google Workspace Updates blog.

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Updates

What’s changing

Who’s impacted

Why it’s important

Additional details

Getting started

Availability

Resources

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

Resources

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

Resources

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

Resources

What’s changing

Who’s impacted

Why it’s important

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

Resources

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

Resources

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

Resources

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

Resources

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

Resources

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

Resources

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.

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